Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, and Social Values Call for Papers – AALS Section on Internet and Computer Law Topic The Internet of Things will create a vast surge in the amount of data that we – and our devices – generate. To make sense of this trove of information will require the use […]

In the latest installment of the Porn Wars, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals has, upon rehearing, remanded a challenge to the age verification provisions of 18 U.S.C. 2257 / 2257A, with instructions that the district court should apply strict scrutiny in its First Amendment analysis. Perhaps strict scrutiny is not fatal in fact, but […]

The fall began with a wave of hacked nude celebrity photos (as Tim notes in his great post). The release generated attention to the larger problem of revenge porn – or, more broadly, the non-consensual sharing of intimate media. Legislators and scholars have moved to tackle the problem. Danielle Citron proposes a model statute for criminalizing revenge […]

Arizona House Bill 2515 seeks to criminalize revenge porn. The only small problem: the proposed statute is blatantly unconstitutional. Here’s the text: Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona: Section 1. Title 13, chapter 14, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 13-1425, to read: 13-1425. Unlawful distribution of images; state of nudity; […]

I’ll be back in Brooklyn on Thursday, to take part in a fantastic NYC Legal Hackers session on revenge porn. I’m excited to hear from and learn from Lee Rowland, Mark Jaffe, and Ari Waldman. And, I’m really grateful to Phil Weiss, Jonathan Askin, David Giller, and the brilliant Legal Hackers team for this event. […]

In Exposed, I argue for expanding copyright protection to protect intimate media and to treat unauthorized performance, distribution, or display of such works (as with revenge porn) as infringement. I have drafted model legislation, the SHARE IT Media Act, for the proposal – forcing oneself to put together statutory language for a policy proposal imposes […]

California has a new law criminalizing certain forms of revenge porn. I’ve been publicly skeptical about it. What do I propose instead? As I suggested in an earlier post, I think copyright law offers a powerful mechanism to, simultaneously, foster the production of intimate media by consenting partners and to punish non-consensual distribution and display […]

The California legislature passed, and Governor Jerry Brown signed, a bill that creates misdemeanor criminal liability for certain types of revenge porn. Here’s the new statutory language, at Ca. Penal Code 647.4(j): (4) (A) Any person who photographs or records by any means the image of the intimate body part or parts of another identifiable person, under […]

The New York Times has an interesting article on attempts to use law to combat revenge porn. It quotes a series of experts, including Danielle Citron, Mary Anne Franks, Eric Goldman, Eugene Volokh, Charlotte Laws, and Marc Randazza. (Danielle has an excellent new book out on the topic, which I recommend. Disclosure: she kindly asked […]

My article Exposed is now up on SSRN. It’s coming out in volume 98 of the Minnesota Law Review in 2014. Here’s the abstract: The production of intimate media – amateur, sexually explicit photos and videos – by consenting partners creates social value that warrants increased copyright protection. The unauthorized distribution of these media, such […]